On The Right Track
Chapter One
Ru’s phone pinged with a new message from Tommy.
Looks like another one, sorry.
The text was attached to a photo of the cover of a magazine featuring Ru kissing his ex-boyfriend Kris and then a smaller picture of Kris kissing another guy. Headline for that one wasVocal Growth Star Jilted!
Six months and still front page news.
He sighed. Leaving California hadn’t helped. Here he was in the cold autumn of Minnesota, alone, but stalked by the conservative media who thought anyone under eighteen didn’t deserve to recognize their sexuality.
He was gay. He had known for years. The mistake of telling his father when he was eleven etched firmly in his mind. Why did love make him a bad guy?
Being one member of a boy band that had traveled the world a few times and won a hefty number of awards, he was required to maintain a wholesome image. At least that’s what his former recording studio had told him.
Wholesome didn’t mean kissing another guy, even when he and Kris had been exclusive for almost two years. So, while it was okay for other celebrities to come out and show pride, anyone under the magical age of eighteen was ridiculed, cast out, and treated as a pariah of the community.
Overnight his world had turned from parties and stardom to infamy and ruin.
Do you need me to come stay with you?Tommy texted again. A former bandmate, and a good friend, Tommy hadn’t cared when Ru told him he was gay. He did offer to kick the crap out of Kris after the guy had set them up to be photographed together, outing Ru to the whole world, only to then cheat on him. Would Ru’s heart ever stop breaking at the memory?
Ru texted back,He never really loved me, did he?
A second later the phone rang. Ru answered it, knowing who the voice on the other line would be. “I’m on my way to the airport,” Tommy said.
“You don’t have to come all the way out here for me. I’m fine. Virtually unrecognized here.” Though Ru hadn’t done much other than venture to his Uncle Dimitri’s restaurant. He was going to put on ten pounds before the week was over. “I’m just laying low. Trying to work on some music.”
“And not over that bastard Kris.”
Maybe. But that part of his life had ended. In fact, so much had changed that Ru found himself more lost and depressed than he had most of his life. He’d always known exactly who he was and what he wanted. He’d never been more alive than when he was on stage, surrounded by cheering fans and bright lights.
His father had pushed him to become the musician he was with years of piano and guitar lessons, high-end tutors, and business sense. Ru found passion in the music and had made himself famous, trusting his dad to always be there.
Only that hadn’t happened. He’d been abandoned for something he couldn’t change. How many girls had he datedtryingto be like everyone else? Fake smiles, and awkward moments of holding hands and rare kisses marred his past. His relationship with Kris had been the most natural and normal he’d ever felt.
At least until the end.
Ru had been on his own a while now. Still loving the music and building his life around the fame he’d crafted. But now he wasn’t so sure he wanted to remain on that road. The constant flash of the camera, the endless judgment of strangers, and the never-ending loneliness, was that all that was left for him? Was that what he’d worked so hard and given up his childhood for?
“I don’t want to talk about that.”
“Okay, so tell me how your meeting with the big M went.”
Ru smiled. “She was amazing. Probably had no clue who I was, but it was good.” His publicist, Katie, had arranged the meeting to try to bolster Ru’s spirit. The woman was a miracle worker, but even meeting his idol could only lift him for a little while.
“You been working on any new songs? I don’t know what we’re going to do without you writing them all for us in the group.” What Tommy didn’t say was that AJ, another bandmate, was already on the search for a new guy to add to the ranks of Vocal Growth, as Ru had been released from the group when he’d been outed.
“Released” was a nice term used in the media to make it sound like he’d had a choice.
“Haven’t really been inspired.”
“I’ll be there in a few hours. Maybe we can hit the clubs or something.”
“It’s really cold here. You know that, right?” Ru couldn’t imagine wearing most of his club clothes out in this weather. He’d have to find some fancy coat that would cover it all just to keep from freezing his nuts off. “How do you go clubbing in Eskimo gear?”
“It’s what, fifty degrees? You big baby. Just wait until January. See you in a few hours. Maybe go to Dimitri’s or something. I don’t want you home alone.”
